The drive from Cincinnati to South Bend has been made a lot in recent years and not just from Brian Kelly departing the Queen City to take the Notre Dame job back in 2009. Kelly was simply the first of what have become several coaches to make that move in the last decade.
Marcus Freeman obviously comes to mind after being hired as the defensive coordinator last year before his promotion. Mike Mickens helped coach Cincinnati’s secondary before making the move to South Bend while Mike Elston was a member of Kelly’s Cincinnati staff before heading to South Bend.
You can now add Brian Mason to that list as reports have him becoming Marcus Freeman’s new special teams coordinator at Notre Dame. Mason has been on Cincinnati’s staff for five years and headed the unit that tied for the nationally lead in blocked kicks this past year.
The Bearcats, who went 12-0 in the regular season, also had among the best kickoff and punt return units nationally in 2021 while their kickoff and punt coverage teams were both ranked in the nation’s top 30 as well.
Mason replaces Brian Polian who left to join Brian Kelly’s staff at LSU.
Related:
Notre Dame coaching staff tracker